Turkey expects NATO to support its initiatives for a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine conflict, a Turkish diplomatic source told Sputnik on Wednesday, adding that Ankara will inform the alliance about the initiatives at the NATO summit in The Hague.
On Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Turkey was planning new steps under the Istanbul process on Ukraine, without specifying the details. He added that at the NATO summit in The Hague, Turkey intends to “explain this vision” to its counterparts and affirm that it will not stop “until peace is achieved.”
“During Mr. President’s bilateral meetings at the NATO summit in The Hague, Turkey will inform the alliance about its initiatives and seek support for the negotiation process, as well as for Turkey’s efforts to resolve the conflict,” the source said.
In early June, Erdogan expressed hope for a meeting in Turkey between U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stating that Turkey would take steps in this direction. Last week, Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), said that the dates for a new round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine were expected to be agreed on the following week.
The second round of Russia-Ukraine talks took place on June 2 in Turkey. The meeting at the Ciragan Palace in Istanbul lasted more than an hour. The parties exchanged memorandums on the settlement of the conflict. Russian delegation head Vladimir Medinsky said after the talks that Russia and Ukraine had agreed on a large-scale exchange of prisoners.
The two-day NATO summit kicked off in The Hague on Tuesday.
